Head of Finance | PE-Backed Multi-Site Scaleup | London

Head of Finance | PE-Backed Multi-Site Scaleup | London

The Client

Harmonic are delighted to be partnering with a founder-led, multi-site membership business serving the creative industries. The business trades profitably across its existing London estate, has a large and growing member base, and has further openings in the pipeline as part of an ambitious rollout plan.

It has recently completed a significant private equity investment, alongside backing from a group of institutional investors and experienced operators. It is a genuine growth story: a founder-built brand that has proven its model credible enough to attract serious institutional backing and is now scaling with real momentum behind it.

Finance has been handled to date by an outsourced accounting team and a fractional CFO. This is a newly created role that brings ownership of the numbers in-house.

The Role

Reporting directly to the CEO and Co-Founder, the Head of Finance will be the source of truth for the business: the one person the leadership team, the board and the investors go to for a clear, current and reliable picture of performance. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role in a lean function. You will own the financial model, the cash flow forecast, the budgeting cycle and the monthly reporting pack, and you will be accountable for the accuracy of every number that leaves finance. You will not be doing the bookkeeping, but you will be managing the outsourced firm that does, and holding them to timetable.

The emphasis here is on control, modelling and commercial insight rather than pure strategy. As the estate grows, so does the financial complexity: more revenue streams, more budget holders, and larger capital decisions about where and how the business expands. You will not inherit a polished finance machine. You will build it, with the autonomy and direct line to the CEO to do it properly, and clear scope to grow into a Finance Director seat as the function matures.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the company financial model, including the multi-site expansion model, refreshing and re-baselining it monthly so it remains the version the board and investors make decisions from
• Own the rolling cash flow forecast: monitor liquidity, flag risk early, and run scenario and sensitivity analysis with the CEO to support decisions on new sites, capex and growth
• Run the budgeting and reforecasting cycle end to end: set and own the timetable, coordinate inputs from department and site leads, consolidate into the company budget, then track actuals and hold budget holders to their numbers
• Take draft management accounts from the outsourced accountants and refine, challenge and quality-check them into a clear monthly pack (P&L, balance sheet and cash flow) with variance analysis against budget and prior period
• Build the board pack and act as the finance point of contact for the board and private equity investor, producing investor-ready reporting and commentary that holds up to scrutiny
• Develop the reporting around the real drivers of the business, including utilisation, member acquisition and churn, and site-level unit economics, and bring a point of view to commercial decisions from pricing to new sites
• Take ultimate accountability for statutory and administrative compliance (year end accounts, VAT, EMI filings), managing the outsourced accounting firm to deadline, and own credit control in-house to keep debtor days low
• Build a modern, AI-first finance function: automate repetitive work, improve systems, and pull operational, accounting and CRM data into one reliable picture of the business

Essential Experience

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA), or qualified by substantial relevant experience
• Proven experience as a Finance Manager or Financial Controller in an SME, scale-up or multi-site business, having genuinely owned the function rather than a slice of it
• Track record of improving finance systems and processes, with a genuine appetite for AI and automation.
• Strong financial modelling and cash flow forecasting skills, with real fluency in Excel or Sheets. You have built and maintained a model that a board actually made decisions on
• Experience owning a budgeting and reforecasting cycle, including holding non-finance budget holders accountable to it
• Exceptional attention to detail. The numbers you produce do not need checking
• Comfortable with cloud accounting (Xero preferred) and confident managing outsourced providers

Desirable Experience

• Experience in a multi-site, bricks-and-mortar rollout business: hospitality, leisure, gyms, coffee, hotels, retail or flexible workspace
• Exposure to a private equity or institutionally backed business, including board and investor reporting
• Experience of physical expansion, site investment or capex planning
• Genuine interest in the creative industries

Package

Salary: £80,000 - £90,000 + equity

Location: London (2-3 days in office)

Start Date: Flexible (ASAP ideal)

At Harmonic, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace. We actively welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and assure you that every candidate will be thoughtfully considered for the roles we represent, without regard to race, religion, gender expression, disability, or sexual orientation.